Author: Minivan News

On-Off-On-Off-On airport privatisation agreement signing function

A ‘hasty function’ organised on Sunday to sign the Male International Airport privatisation agreement with India’s GMR was postponed for a few hours and later for a day, reports Haveeru.

The Maldivian government earlier had set the signing for Wednesday, and the sudden changes of schedule come hours after four opposition parties from the Majlis signed a joint statement opposing the privatisation.

At the President’s Office on Sunday afternoon, the privatisation committee chairperson Mahmood Razee announced ‘some documents are pending’. Afterwards, the President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Haveeru the function was postponed until Monday.

The function was cancelled due to disputes among board members of Maldives Airports Company Limited over appointing a board representative to sign the agreement, reports Haveeru. GMR Infrastructure won the bid last Thursday to expand, modernise and operate the airport for 25 years.

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Regional action on piracy threat essential: Shihab tells SAARC

Dinghies suspected of being associated with piracy are arriving in the seas around the Maldives and a regional mechanism to counter piracy is needed, said the Maldivian minister of home affairs Mohamed Shihab at the SAARC home ministers meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, reports Miadhu Daily.

The SAARC Drug and Terrorism Offences Monitoring group also needs to be strengthened, Shihab said. Police chiefs, immigration controllers and home secretaries attended the meeting which was held from 23 to 26 June.

This month a dinghy with 6 men aboard was found floating in Maldives waters and rescued by local fishermen off Maamakunudhoo atoll in northern Maldives, reported Miadhu Daily. In May the MNDF rescued an Iranian fishing boat with 20 people aboard 75 miles west of Huvadhu atoll in southern Maldives, and an abandoned boat suspected of belonging to pirates was discovered off Laamu atoll just north of Huvadhu in April. In December 2009, fishermen from Addu atoll spotted a similar boat with seven Somalis in distress drifting off Hithadhoo island in southern Maldives.

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Public servants in the Maldives highest paid in South Asia: Business Times

In 2004 the average civil servant monthly pay in the Maldives was Rf3,000, while currently (after 2008) it is at Rf11,000, The Business Times in Sri Lanka has reported.

“Critics of the former government say this was due to electoral pressure. Those who defend it say it’s a natural response to inflation in the economy,” the article quoted Mifzal Ahmed, Advisor on Investments at the Ministry of Economic Development, as saying.

Private schools and private or private sector-managed, government health care facilities is the way forward for the Maldives, minimising the need to seek high quality education or health care in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka or India, Mifzal told the publication.

“Affordability? [Maldivians] will beg, borrow or steal to go there because the services are just not available here. The government however will continue to spend on health and education.”

Mr Ahmed said soon after the 2008/2009 elections, a strong need for certain basic services arose. Some basic services were not available to many people while another priority was to make the government more efficient.

In the Maldives, the kind of political handouts came in the form of doling out jobs. Thus the civil service is now in excess of 35,000 which is 1/3rd of the working population – all working in the public sector.
When the Tsunami hit the Maldives and other countries, there was a jump in public spending, which Mr Ahmed acknowledged was understandable, and also a jump in public sector employment party due to pressure from the opposition.

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Extremism impacting Maldivian women: Inter Press report

Authorities in the Maldives view women’s issues as a core human rights problem and are keen to tackle them head on, but cultural and religious issues often stand in the way, according to an Inter Press Service report by Feizal Samath.

‘No doubt the government of President Mohamed Nasheed recognises many problems and is willing to tackle them, but there’s limited ability to do so because of deep-rooted cultural and religious issues,’ according to a Maldivian journalist, who declined to be named.

Member of parliament Eva Abdulla, who belongs to Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) — which won power in May 2009, thus ending the 30- year-old reign of dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom — said the government firmly believes in affirmative action policies benefiting women.

‘The President has called for gender mainstreaming in both formulating and implementing government policies,’ she said. She stressed, however, that lack of staff and resources are undermining Nasheed’s good intentions.

Particularly worrying, she said, is the growing religious extremism in the Maldives and its impact on the lives of Maldivian women, who comprise around 48 percent of the country’s population of around 340,000.

‘Religion is all too often used as an excuse to limit women,’ she added.

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Education Minister fights back against no confidence motion

Education Minister Dr. Mustafa Lutfy has sent information to members of the Majlis regarding issues raised by 10 MPs who have filed a motion of no confidence against him, reports Miadhu Daily.

It is important that members of the Majlis are given the real facts about these issues, says Miadhu, and in a document on the Education ministry’s website Dr. Luthfy has responded to seven issues raised by the MPs.

Dr. Luthfy says that he has taken steps to strengthen Islam and Dhivehi at Maldivian schools, including the separation of Islam and Koran which was previously taught as one subject, offering innumerable opportunities for professional classes for Islam and Koran teachers, obtaining assistance from the ministry of Islamic Affairs to establish prayer rooms in schools and encouraging schools to make time for prayers, and for schools to take in the lead in promoting the practice of praying.

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President Nasheed makes first official visit to Singapore

President Nasheed will make his first official visit to Singapore starting today, reports ChannelNewsAsia.com.

The two-day visit is at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. President Nasheed will deliver the keynote address at the Asia-Pacific Water Ministers Forum held in conjunction with the Singapore International Water Week.

On Monday, there will be a welcome ceremony for him at the Office of the President of Singapore, followed by a meeting with Prime Minister Lee and a call on President S. R. Nathan. President Nasheed will also visit the Singapore Airport Terminal Services’ Coolport @ Changi facility and the National Orchid Garden where he will have an orchid named after him.

The President will also participate in a business forum organised by the Maldives High Commission in Singapore, and inform Singaporean business people and potential investors of the opportunities in the Maldives.

He is accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Shaheed, Housing, Transport and Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam, President of Male Municipality Adam Maniku, and other senior officials.

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New Maldives Museum to be ready for Independence Day: Minister Dr. Sawad

Maldives new museum in Male will be inaugurated on Independence Day 26 July, says the minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad., according to Miadhu Daily.

The new museum has been donated by the Chinese government, and Dr. Sawad says that work to transfer artifacts from the old museum is underway. A task force including officials from the President’s Office, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Tourism Ministry, Environment Ministry and the MNDF is taking part in the transfer. The new building is still under construction and some difficulties have arisen during the transfer process, says Ali Waheed, who is in charge of the taskforce.

Sultans Park would become the museum park, says Dr. Sawad who confirmed that the Chinese government would assist in that development.

“The Chinese government and the Tourism ministry are working to train staff at the museum, with added assistance from a Singaporean NGO,” Dr. Sawad said.

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Celebrity football games help children with heart disease in Maldives

Two fund-raising football matches featuring Maldivian celebrity players are being organised by Tiny Hearts, a local NGO, to help children with congenital heart disease, reports Haveeru.

Coaches were assigned to the four teams during an inaugural ceremony held at Holiday Inn, Male. Men and women television presenters, actors and vocalists would play in the games, said Fiunaz Mohamed, a member of the organisation. Tiny Hearts has scheduled the matches for 9 July to raise funds for surgery for around 20 children with heart defects, she said, because their families are unable to afford the costly operations.

Donation boxes would be set up at Galolhu National Stadium and tickets are on sale.

Tiny Hearts was established by the parents of a child who died of congenital heart disease. The organisation has identified 125 similar cases in Maldives.

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Supreme Court judges’ appointments not temporary: Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed

The appointment of judges to the Supreme Court is permanent, claims Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed in a letter to President Nasheed.

The receipt of the letter has been confirmed by the President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair who said the letter included legal points on expelling judges from the courts. “Such letters by the judiciary will be received by the President with special attention,” he said.

The legal points raised by the chief judge are being studied by the President’s Office’s legal team, said Zuhair, and when the legal team presents its conclusions, the President will make a decision on the letter.

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